GYHLDEPTIS is the Haida Goddess of the forest. She was a beneficent Goddess who protected the people of the coastal forests. A nearby whirlpool, Kaegyihl Depgeesk ("upside down place"), was proving to be very treacherous to travelers, dragging down their ships. In a bid to stop the destruction, Gyhldeptis invited the other local powers to a great feast. In her Festival House, she negotiated with the spirits of the wind, the ice, and the forest fire, and they agreed to help Gyhldeptis. Between them, they shaped the coast, turning the whirlpool into a river that would no longer be a danger to the people. Gyhldeptis's name means "lady hanging hair," symbolic of the hanging branches of the great cedar trees of her forest.